Brachystegia spiciformis, commonly known as Zebrawood or Msasa, is a medium-sized African tree having compound leaves and racemes of small fragrant green flowers. The tree has a broad crown and a distinctive amber and wine red colour when the young leaves sprout during spring. It grows in savanna, both open woodland and closed woodland of Southern and Eastern Africa, mostly Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique. The word Msasa is commonly used as a proper name in African place names. The word also means ‘rough plant’ in Swahili. Other common names include Mundu, Myombo, Mtondo (Tanzania) and Muputu (Zambia). The plant is known in the Venda language as mutsiwa, which means ‘the one that is left behind’. An outlying population of Brachystegia has recently been discovered in the Soutpansberg Mountains of northern South Africa. This tree is a protected species in South Africa. In southern Tanzania it is used medicinally to treat dysentery and stomach problems. It also makes a great shade tree.